Japanese airline caterer receives Halal kitchen cert

A LEADING airline caterer in Tokyo, TFK Corporation, has received halal certification for its halal kitchen, becoming another example of how the travel industry is paying more attention to the growing Muslim market.

Subsidiary of Singapore-based ground handler and inflight caterer SATS, TFK spent two months renovating and equipping its halal kitchen, and a further four months to complete the certification process.

Renovations cost some 60 million yen (US$549,820) and have increased kitchen capacity from 3,000 meals to 6,000 meals a day.

Warees Halal was engaged in the certification, a division of Warees Investments which is wholly owned by Singapore statutory board Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS).

The MUIS and Warees Halal logo will now adorn TFK food products to give Muslim travellers the assurance the food conforms with the Singapore halal standard.

TFK president, Makoto Fukada, commented: “A survey showed that 66.8 per cent of Muslims travelling overseas for leisure viewed the availability of halal food as most important to them. As Muslim visitors to Japan are expected to reach one million a year by 2020, tripling the 2013 level, the availability of certified halal food will be of great importance to meet the needs of these travellers.”

Halal certification is a boost to TFK, the first airline caterer in Japan to set up a dedicated halal kitchen. It has been serving halal meals since 2001.